The mobilization to catch the Boston bombing suspects was breathtaking in its scope and speed. The entire city was shut down, with thousands of law enforcement personnel and all the resources of the federal government engaged.

It epitomized the nation's all-in approach to fighting terrorism since 9/11. In the 10 years that followed the attacks, that intensity has helped limit the number of U.S. deaths classified as terrorism to 30, according to the Global Terrorism Database, including 13 in the Fort Hood shootings and five in the 2001 anthrax attacks.

Now imagine if a fraction of those resources had gone into preventing incidents like the explosion that killed at least 15 people, including 11 first responders, and injured 200 at a Texas fertilizer plant two days after the marathon bombing that claimed three lives.

From 2002 to 2011, 53,252 Americans were killed on the job, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, including hundreds of cops and firefighters such as those who died in Texas.

If state or federal regulators had inspected the fertilizer plant for explosive materials rather than relying on the company's word -- it told the EPA there was "no risk" of fire or explosion -- those 15 people would almost surely be alive today. And if lawmakers took workplace safety as seriously as terrorism, the nation could save thousands of lives every single year.

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Officials in Texas, known for its aversion to regulation, knew West Fertilizer Co. was storing several hundred tons of dangerous ammonium nitrate, according to the Dallas Morning News. But they believed the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration was responsible for regulating fire and explosion risks. (It is not.) Because of state and federal reliance on self-reporting rather than true oversight, which costs money, other agencies didn't even know the chemical was there.

Even more frightening: No one questioned the wisdom of building around the plant. Two schools, a nursing home, dozens of houses and an apartment building were leveled in the nighttime blast.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the federal agency responsible for workplace safety, hadn't inspected West Fertilizer since 1985. It has just 2,200 inspectors for 8 million sites. One expert told The Wall Street Journal that facilities are inspected an average of every 99 years.

The Department of Homeland Security, the military, the FBI, CIA and other agencies have spent trillions to fight terrorism since 9/11, and that surely has helped keep the death toll comparatively low. When government devotes significant resources to solving a problem, it usually works. OSHA itself is a case in point. It was created in 1970, when an average of 38 people died on the job every day. In 2011, that number was down to 13, while the working population had doubled. But it still far exceeds the terrorist toll over the past decade.

It's a matter of political priorities. More money, more inspectors and better coordination would save thousands of workers' lives, just as the mobilization against terrorism has saved many. But first, state and national leaders need to decide that a life lost on the job is no less valuable than one lost to terrorism.